Sinking rates of microplastics and potential implications of their alteration by physical, biological, and chemical factors

Microplastic-Associated Biofilms: A Comparison of Freshwater and Marine Environments

“…Only a limited selection of these parameters has been investigated with specific reference to microplastics facilitate biofilm formation [24,25]. Plastic-colonizing microorganisms have also been found to influence the surface properties and buoyancy of polymers [12,20,26]. Since microplastics are likely to be transported into marine environments via WWTP, rivers, and streams [6,7], factors contributing to initial colonization (such as surface roughness and attachment by pioneering colonizers) can be hypothesized to be particularly important within freshwaters.…”

“…This concept is a well-developed approach for modeling particle movement and is quantified using measurements of deposition length and velocity, turnover time, and the retention-export ratio [34]. To date, direct measurements of spiraling metrics have not been applied to microplastic (but see Kowalski et al [26], Long et al [35], and Nizzetto et al [36]). …”

“…On PP, algal biofilms increased particle aggregation, which was not observed for HDPE. Research has recently been aimed at characterizing the sedimentation rates of microplastics in freshwater and marine environments [26,35,36]. Lagarde et al [46] add to our understanding of microplastic movement by showing that aggregation of plastic particles via biofilm attachment occurs differently among polymer types, which will affect their suspension or deposition.…”

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“…Furthermo re, the data obtained in the part of the sea bottom survey of project which the results of this part is supporting this hypothesis. Sinking experiments were conducted with diverse polymer particles using flu ids with d ifferent salinity (Kowalski, Reichardt, & Waniek, 2016). It is reported that the sinking experiments with six different polymer types distinctly show the relevance of particle size, density and shape as well as salin ity of the amb ient fluid for the sin king velocity.…”

“…It is reported that the sinking experiments with six different polymer types distinctly show the relevance of particle size, density and shape as well as salin ity of the amb ient fluid for the sin king velocity. They clarified that sinking velocity is decrease with increasing salinity (Kowalski et al, 2016). Thornton and Jackson (1998) and Carlos Astudillo, Bravo, Du mont, and Thiel (2009) have proposed that physical factors such as the wind and wave-action have a role in in fluencing spatial patterns of accumulat ion.…”